1. Field of the Invention a
The present invention relates generally to an ink-jet recording device for printing on a large-sized recording medium using an ink-jet recording head, and more specifically to an ink feeder.
2. Description of the Related Art
For an ink-jet recording device which prints in large quantity having a recording head to which ink is supplied from an ink supply source and which is reciprocated in the direction of the width of recording paper to print in the ink-jet recording device, a method of installing the ink supply source in the body and supplying ink to the recording head via a tube is adopted.
If bubbles are included in ink, pressure applied to ink is deteriorated and the performance of jetting an ink droplet is also deteriorated. Therefore, ink is sufficiently degassed in a factory and is housed in an ink cartridge or in an ink bag, and they are packed in a sealed container for shipping.
In an ink-jet recording device which prints on a large-sized recording medium, as a large quantity of ink is consumed in printing, an ink cartridge in which a flexible ink bag in which degassed ink is sealed and an ink end detecting plate based upon which an ink end detector is operated to detect a state near to the shortage of ink or a state in which ink is short are housed in a case and used for ink supply means.
The ink bag is composed of an aluminum laminated film obtained by putting aluminum foil as an intermediate layer between two films, for example an outside nylon film and an inside polyethylene film to function as a barrier to gas and functions as a bag flexibly deformed according to the quantity of ink without losing sealing performance.
However, as sufficient strength is required for a bag and a tank composing an ink reservoir in case when the quantity of ink is increased and the capacity of the bag is remarkably increased, there is a problem that the rigidity of the ink bag is increased, which makes it difficult to smoothly supply ink to a recording head. As a result, the maximum capacity is limited to approximately 500 cc and a frequent supply of ink is required in a large-sized ink-jet recording device.
To solve such a problem, a method of pumping up ink in a subtank, wherein a part of a surface thereof is composed of a flexible film, as disclosed in Japanese published unexamined patent application No. Hei9-234886, for example, and supplying ink to a recording head from the subtank is conceivable. However, there is a problem that the structure of the subtank is complicated.